Various devices are known for handling boats, and more specifically for lifting both in and out of the water. In the simplest form of a boat lift, a ramp is provided at the shoreline of a body of water, and a trolley is supported for movement along the ramp which includes a cradle thereon upon which a boat can be supported. Use of a ramp however is limited to areas where the shoreline elevates gradually.
Other examples of boat lifts simply lift the boat vertically out of the water, however only limited protection can be offered to the boat when suspending the boat over the body of water. Some vertically lifting boat lifts to permit the boat to also be horizontally displaced, however such horizontal displacement is typically limited to a pivotal movement about a vertical sliding axis of the boat lift such that the horizontal distance that the boat can be displaced is limited by the pivotal range of movement of the mechanism such that protection of the boat from the body of water remains limited.